Be your own coach … I don’t think so.

Running a business can be a lonely job – so who do you turn to when you have issues? Do you toss and turn that problem in your head.Do you come up with all sorts of scenarios and solutions, then argue with yourself as to the validity of the solutions?And then lose the argument so do nothing?

The trouble with sorting out the solutions in your head is that whilst the scenario you picture seems clear enough, when you try to implement it, it seems less obvious and sometimes a darn site more confusing.

The trouble with giving yourself feedback on your own performance is that you are so more critical in your head and less encouraging than others might be.

The trouble with setting yourself a challenge is that it is only yourself you are committing to; in your head.

Having a goal keeper can be really useful for keeping you on track. Depending on the size of your business you might chose a non-exec director, a business mentor, a coach or a trusted business buddy.

Business Buddy – the Coaching Questionnaire

Think of an issue you have (eg. not enough leads, problem person in the team, new opportunity for growth). Write down a one line summary of the issue? Then talk to a business buddy who will actively listen and ask those probing questions.

Goal

What are you trying to achieve by fixing the issue? (This is Your goal)

What does success look like? (how will you know when you’ve achieved your goal)

What are the positive consequences for others when you achieve your goal? (name them your customers, staff, family, friends)

How could you break your goal down into sub-goals?

Reality

What are you currently doing to reach your goal?

What have you tried that hasn’t worked?

What have you learned from that?

What have you tried that worked well?Could you do more of that?

Who do you know that has done this before / could be a role model for you?

What can you learn from them?

Options

Write down one thing you could do as a first step?

What else could you do?

What do you think you should do?

What do you really want to do?

If you had no constraints what would you do?

What, inside you, is stopping you from taking action?

How can you remove that internal block?

What other (external) blocks are there?

How can you remove these external blocks?

What are you actually going to do?

Will

On a scale of 0-10, how committed are you to achieving your goal?

PS. If you scored less than 8 for this question, you now know that the issue isn’t important enough to keep you awake, so you can tear up the paper and get on with your job.If you scored 8 or more, you now have some actions you can take to help move towards your goal.